Australian white supremacists and neo-Nazis who are creating crowdfunding campaigns and “active clubs” to train members in combat must be monitored more closely, a prominent global counter-extremist organisation has told a Senate inquiry.
Some Australian extremists “have become leading voices in the decentralised online neo-Nazi sphere”, according to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a global anti-terror group and non-profit. It has warned a parliamentary inquiry into rightwing extremism that some such groups in Australia may seek to promote combat sports and self-defence clubs as an “evasion tactic” to avoid police attention, as has been seen overseas.
“Active clubs claim to simply promote political street activism, a ‘nationalist’ lifestyle, and combat sports training for white nationalists for self-defence purposes. However, it appears that active clubs in the US are not about peaceful activism and sports,” CEP said in its submission to the inquiry.
“There is increasing evidence suggesting that the network’s main objective is instead the creation of shadow militias that can be activated when the need for coordinated violent action on a larger scale arises.”
The Senate’s legal and constitutional affairs references committee began an inquiry into rightwing extremist movements in Australia late last year. Due to report by December, the committee was tasked with investigating the threat posed by extremist movements, the motivations and capacity for violence of such individuals, links with international movements, and online promotion of extremism.
Among a small number of submissions published so far on the committee’s website, CEP’s researchers Joshua Fisher-Birch and Alexander Ritzmann, based in New York and Berlin respectively, said it was “possible, if not likely” that active clubs would be promoted “by (violent) rightwing extremist key actors in Australia, in the near future”.
The Australian Christian Lobby’s chief executive, Michelle Pearse, made a submission critical of the inquiry itself. She claimed its terms of reference “can be construed as inviting the creation of legal weaponry to benefit radical far-left elements antagonistic towards those who hold more conservative political opinions, with a view to silencing their opposition”.
Pearse was unhappy that some of the committee’s terms “concern activities involving no violence” and include references “where the term ‘right wing’ is open to broad, subjective interpretation”.
“In other words, the inquiry appears to be concerned more with matters that have no current association with terrorism or violent extremism, namely harmless political, right-of-centre belief,” she claimed, raising concerns the inquiry could “invoke justification for repressive measures against political opponents”.
Pearse was unhappy that “the importance of upholding fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, form no part of this inquiry”.
CEP raised concerns that active clubs, which can involve activities like combat sports training or placement of extremist stickers or graffiti, have also sought “to train operational and logistical capacities like scouting target locations and avoiding law enforcement”.
“Creating local and national leadership figures in this process is another main objective,” they said.
Some far-right groups in Australia have already promoted social activities like boxing clubs and gyms. Notorious white nationalist group The Lads Society, formed by members of the far-right United Patriots Front group, developed clubhouses in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane for similar purposes prior to 2019; leader Thomas Sewell said the purpose was to “create a network of young men” to advocate for their ideology.
Sewell and a fellow far-right group member were last year convicted of violent affray after admitting to attacking a group of hikers in a Victorian park while on a camping trip with other National Socialist Network and European Australian Movement members.
CEP recommended Australian authorities closely monitor changes to organisation of extremist groups, “due to the proximity of Australian key extremist individuals to the transnational active club network”, suggesting closer cooperation with American and Canadian law enforcement.
“Australian authorities should closely monitor the potential emergence of active club groups in the country and their transnational connections, as these could potentially lead to an increase in violent acts in the country.”
CEP raised concerns about Australian-based extremists using crowdfunding websites to raise money, and gaining local and international followings on social media platforms like Telegram and Twitter; they noted the latter platform had recently “loosened its content moderation efforts, allowing extremist groups and individuals to maintain accounts.”
The group called on the online safety regulator, the eSafety commissioner, to take further action on extremists violating the terms of service of those platforms, including strengthening local laws to enhance content monitoring standards.
Pointing to examples from Canada, CEP also suggested Australian financial regulators like Austrac monitor crowdfunding efforts to ensure tax laws are being adhered to.